A Case of Stolen Identity and the True Birth of a Hero
by Bounemr
Summary: This is the story of how, three years before Showcase, Adrien met one of his beloved partner pokémon - the zoroark who came to be known as Rocco.


A/N: While this story is standalone, it is probably best to mention that it takes place in the same universe as my other Pokemon AU main story, titled _Showcase_ , and its sequel.

* * *

Adrien couldn't help but bounce a little in his excitement. His mother used to arrange all his "play dates", even with Chloé, but since she died he didn't get many opportunities to socialize. Sure, we went out from time to time, and Chloé spent time with him, and he had a couple acquaintances who liked to spend time with him, but none of them were like Joshua.

Well, Chloé was, to an extent, but they were fourteen and she was changing, and Adrien was extremely unsure how to handle anything with regard to her at the moment.

But Joshua Keaton was a model, like he was, and he was sweet and funny, and they just clicked ever since they first talked. Sure, they didn't see each other often anymore, but Adrien missed him and, at least to Adrien, he was the closest thing to a best friend he had.

And now, after three whole years of talking through nothing but texts because Joshua was living in Cyllage City and Adrien in Lumiose, they were finally going to see each other in person again. For work, sure, but still, Adrien was excited.

He tapped at his phone, bringing up the pictures Joshua had sent him. _I can't believe how long it's been._ He grinned stupidly at the phone. The angular jawline that was so totally unfair, in Adrien's opinion, the strong brow that threatened to but couldn't possibly cover up the playful cheer in those dark eyes. A bright tongue, contrasting dark skin, that teased him. _Arceus, you ended up hot._

 _I'm actually kind of nervous I'll make a fool of myself now. What if he's different in person? What if_ I'm _different in person and he doesn't like me?_

 _Don't be stupid. You knew each other before and you've kept in contact, too. It'll be like you never even left. Right?_

His phone buzzed, and he nearly dropped it to the floor of the car.

JK: Just got to the shoot. Forgot you guys are so extra.  
JK: Like, I thought my company was extra but damn. It's outside in the middle of the day, how many lights are really necessary?"  
AA: lol I barely even notice it anymore tbh  
JK: Are you sure there's enough makeup here? I'm not sure they bought out the entire department store yet.  
AA: haha is it really that bad?  
JK: No, but I'm not exaggerating when I say this is way above my pay grade.  
JK: Pretty sure some of this stuff costs more than I do.  
JK: Heck, some of those clothes are probably worth more than me.  
AA: dad's not that big  
JK: Read that aloud for me.  
AA: okay fine sorry  
AA: but are you really going to complain?  
JK: Until you get here!  
AA: really?  
JK: Well, once you get here I won't have anything to complain about, will I?

Adrien grinned, chuckling a little to himself and feeling his cheeks warm.

And it wasn't long before he was looking out the window at the set, scanning the crowd for Joshua. Nathalie smirked as she stepped out of the car and stopped him from taking off. "You need to head to makeup, first." She reminded him. "We haven't much time. You can always talk to your friend afterwards."

 _There!_ Adrien felt like his entire being fluttered a little when he finally laid eyes on his friend. Joshua winked and waved at him.

"Adrien." Nathalie repeated. "Makeup."

"Yes, Nathalie." He said, already heading over to where Joshua was. He practically sprinted. "Josh!"

Joshua grabbed him when he got close and pulled him into a hug. "Been too long, Adrien. It's so good to see you."

"You too! I've been so excited for this!"

"Me too! When was last time, like three years ago? How's Plagg doing?"

"He's great. Grumpy as always, but ever since I got Tikki he's mellowed out a bit. I think she keeps him in line."

"At least someone does."

"Ah! Adrien! There you are!" One of the makeup artists came up and fussed over his clothes and hair. "Come along, we only have so much daylight!"

Joshua laughed. "Go on, Adrien. We unfortunately still have a job to do."

Reluctantly, Adrien did go with the artist, and he sat through all the regular process like he always did. But he couldn't stop sneaking glances in Joshua's direction. And then it was time to actually model and Adrien was having a tough time of it because Josh would make silly faces from behind the camera or they'd both be in frame together right up close to each other, inches away, while Joshua smirked and had that look in his eyes.

Needless to say, he found it distracting. Not that he _minded_ , of course. Truth be told, it was one of the most fun he'd had on set in a long time. The cameraman was equally exasperated and pleased with them because they took time nudging each other and laughing – ruining any shots – and they also had "such great chemistry" that the shots he managed to get he absolutely adored.

And it was like they had never been apart. Adrien felt butterflies in his stomach the whole time, but it was a pleasing, exhilarating sensation rather than an uncomfortable one. He looked at Joshua and the smile just jumped right onto his face, he didn't need to think about it.

Seeing Joshua again made him happy in a way he hadn't been in a long time. When his mom died, it was Joshua with him, crying with him, holding him, sleeping over in his room to keep him company. Plagg was there too, of course, but Plagg wasn't _always_ there. Joshua was with him when he went out to the beach, to go eat. Not always, but anytime Adrien needed him. And then he had moved back to Lumiose and Joshua was miles away and Adrien had only his pokémon and Chloé instead.

And though he had recovered from his grief, he was still a teenager. When Chloé started turning, began acting less forward and brash and more venomous and mean, when she began to develop her strange obsession over him, he lost her, too, so all he could do was talk to Plagg or Tikki or text Joshua. And he did. And it was fine. But now Joshua was right there with him and Adrien hadn't thought he'd ever be so thrilled.

* * *

Joshua wasn't moving back to Lumiose permanently. He was only spending the summer there with family. Regardless, it still meant that their photoshoot wasn't a one-time thing, and they had the chance to see each other outside of work. It meant that, even if it was only three months, they had time.

It was their second photo shoot, only the day following the first, that they found something beyond random teenage shenanigans to do with that time. They had taken a break from their shoot, just a short one, but they were permitted to head over and grab a few snacks to refuel. Adrien walked up and grabbed a plate and tossed a few bits of fruit on it and looked beside him at Joshua. He laughed when he saw what Joshua was holding.

Or rather, what he wasn't holding, despite them being present on the table. "What, finally grown a brain and stopped eating pinap berries?"

Joshua's eyes widened, he seemed startled, like he hadn't noticed Adrien.

Adrien just furrowed his brow a little and smiled. "Hah, didn't mean to startle you. What's got you so deep in thought, huh?"

Joshua just looked at his plate and spun it in his hands, fidgeting uncomfortably.

 _What's going on?_ "Josh, you okay?" He nodded just a little. "Okay, if you say so, but you're kind of quiet." _Did something happen? Did I do something?_

Adrien tried his best to act casual. The tension in his chest was familiar enough for him to keep steady, but he couldn't stop his mind from racing. His mouth rambled off meaningless nothings as his brain tried to figure out what was happening. _I can't have him leave me, too. Not now. I just got him back._

"Boys!" The photographer called. "Time to get back to it!"

"Come on." Adrien said, smiling to Joshua. "Better get back to work."

When they got in front of the camera together, Adrien knew for sure that something was wrong. It wasn't just him that Joshua was acting weird about. He just wasn't acting natural at all. He was stiff in front of the camera, stared blankly when the photographer told him how to pose. Adrien had to help him in the right position before the photographer was finally satisfied and took the picture.

"Aaaah!" The photographer screamed, jumping so far in the air Adrien thought that he'd been knocked into by something. The camera went flying. _Shit, that's expensive._ He thought, acting instinctively and stepping forward, watching the heavy thing before it could smash into the ground.

"Monsieur Hardin, are you alright?" He asked, stepping even closer to the photographer. Curious, he tilted the camera to look at the little screen and the image it contained.

There he was, looking a lot more like him before anyone could touch up the picture with the magic of technology. And he wasn't alone, but his partner _definitely_ wasn't Joshua.

He looked up at Joshua, then back at the camera, then back at Joshua. _Oh._ He thought. The imposter shifted on his feet. His head swiveled as he looked for, Adrien assumed, an escape.

"I-Imposter!" The photographer shouted, pointing at him. "It's a beast!"

The fake looked like he was about to spring at any moment, so Adrien stepped in and threw an arm around his shoulders, smiling as best he could. The laugh was, actually, sincere. "I've never met a zoroark before!" He said. "That's a really cool illusion."

"Adrien! Get away! That is a wild beast!"

"Don't worry about him." Adrien said. "You just startled him." He saw everyone else begin to gather around. He felt the zoroark's shoulders tense even further. "Hey, if you took Josh's place, where is he, really?"

"I'm here!" Adrien blinked and turned to look when Joshua came running up. "Sorry about that. There was a line at the restroom. What's all this about?" He looked over the zoroark. "Wow. Good thing I heard zoroark, otherwise this would be really weird."

Adrien laughed. "Where'd you come from, anyway?" He looked to the zoroark, still appearing exactly like Joshua. "You really took us by surprise!" The zoroark shifted, frantically looking around for a route out of there. "You have a trainer?" Adrien asked, trying to calm it down.

Joshua looked the zoroark over for a moment. "You must be hungry, right? Is that why you're here? Come on, enjoy the food." He took the Zoroark's hand and together they headed for the snack table again.

Nathalie stepped in front of them, blocking their path. "Joshua, Adrien, please return to your positions."

"But…"

"Now. We will handle this pokémon."

Joshua placed himself between her and the zoroark. "What'll you do with them?"

"They will be retrieved as all strays are. Until then, I ask you to stay away from it. We do not know anything about this pokémon."

Zoroark curled up a little. "Hey!" Adrien said. "That's not necessary. At least let them eat."

"No. We cannot allow that. It is unsanitary and could impact your health."

"I don't thin-"

Adrien couldn't finish his statement because the zoroark dropped its illusion and sprinted away, pushing past some people to escape. "Hey!" He called after it. "Wait."

Joshua sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. "Must have scared them."

Nathalie watched the zoroark's back impassively. "It's for the best. You know better than to play with strays, Adrien."

Adrien just ducked his head. "Yes, Nathalie. I'm sorry." _Where's it going to go, though? Does it have a place to stay, or is it really a stray?_

 _The picture. It had so many scars. That's not normal, even for strays, right? What have you been through?_ He worried his lip. _But it didn't seem aggressive or anything._

"Adrien." Joshua took his arm. Adrien blushed a little and focused on that rather than on the zoroark. Joshua's voice was soft, quiet, only for his ears. "Tomorrow, okay? Let's finish this, then we can look for it."

Adrien couldn't hold back his smile. Joshua had practically read his mind.

They finished their work and as promised, they met up the next day in the same place to look around for the mysterious zoroark. "You seem pretty invested in it." Joshua said, hands behind his head. "Something I missed?"

"Did you see the picture? I'm just worried about it. I've never seen a pokémon that torn up."

Joshua clicked his tongue. "And a few of those wounds seemed relatively recent. You think something's happening to it?"

"I don't know, but I can't just do nothing, can I?"

Joshua grinned and shook his head. "Of course not. I guess it's time for an adventure, then?"

"Are you sure? You don't have to help me if you don't-"

"Of course, I'm going to help! You think I'm going to spend one day here ignoring my best friend? We've only got a few months, I'm here right with you until I can't be."

Adrien thought that maybe he was blushing a little _too_ much, and the cheeky grin Joshua gave him just made him even more embarrassed. _Oh, golly._ "Thanks."

"Well? Let's go." Joshua grabbed his hand and started leading him towards the edge of the plaza. _We're… holding hands._ His cheeks burned, and he resisted the urge to cover his face. _Think about Zoroark. We need to find it. If it really is getting that messed up where it is now, we should help it._

"Where do you think it might have gone?" He asked.

"Not sure. I heard stray pokémon use the back alleys a lot but that's not really anyplace safe for us. We probably shouldn't go wandering those places willy-nilly."

"Then what do we do?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure how much we can do. We could call it in, I guess. If the police find it, it'd be brought to a Pokémon Center to be looked at."

"I feel like that would just spook it, though. And that's exactly what Nathalie was going to do. I seemed scared at the idea."

Joshua hummed. "Yeah, I got that, too. What do you plan to do if we find it, though? Catch it?"

"Maybe? Not sure. I really just want to find out what happened to it."

"Heh." Adrien ducked his head when Joshua ruffled his hair. "You know, times like these, you remind me of your mom. She'd be the first to find it."

"You think?" Adrien smiled hesitantly.

"Do you not?"

"Haha, no, you're right. She definitely wouldn't let it go."

"So, neither will we. Where would she start?"

 _Well, she'd probably jump right in but since we're still just kids it's not smart for us to roam the back alleys. So otherwise… maybe someplace a stray would go a lot? Zoroark aren't too common so if someone spotted it they wouldn't miss it. But then it does also have illusions, so who knows what they would have seen if they did spot it._ "Maybe a restaurant? They throw out old food that a lot of strays eat, right? Maybe someone would have seen it."

Joshua tapped his chin. "Good idea. So, like, right outside one of those coffee shops nearby, maybe? On Estival Avenue."

"Right! There's an alley right next to Café Rouleau. I've seen pokémon in the dumpster there. Maybe the staff there have seen it."

The pair made their way down the street to the Café where they asked one of the baristas, who didn't seem like she was particularly busy, about the zoroark. "Zoroark?" The girl drawled. "Naw, never seen one of those. All sorts of other pokémon, though. You can go and catch one if you want. Boss'd be glad to have one fewer around. Just don't break our dumpster if you do."

They didn't get much from that, and they didn't find anything when they checked out the dumpster either. In fact, they didn't get anything more on the zoroark until Adrien's next photoshoot, a few days later.

He was working, of course, and though Joshua wasn't, he was present because they were practically inseparable since he had come back to Lumiose. And Adrien saw Joshua pointing frantically at something beyond the set, and he turned to see the zoroark slinking slowly closer and closer.

Adrien shared a look with Joshua, and Joshua slipped out, to meet the zoroark before anyone else spotted it. But when Adrien was finally released, and he managed to find Joshua again, Joshua could only shake his head.

That pattern continued for a while. Nearly every shoot they had also accompanied a visit from the zoroark. Or, at least, people and pokémon they thought was the zoroark. Usually it would be a person, watching from a distance, hesitantly inching closer, and when Adrien locked eyes with them he'd see the illusion shimmer and reform itself.

After what was, in Adrien's opinion, far too long of that game of cat and mouse, they finally managed to get the zoroark alone without all the adults around. They got off a shoot and took off immediately, with the excuse of going to a movie together, and found the zoroark in the alley they had seen it watching them from. "Hey there." Adrien said, kneeling next to it. _I don't see any scars, though. Its fur is beautiful, too. Is it hiding that with its illusion?_ "Been a while."

Joshua grinned. "You watching us for any particular reason? You want to model?"

The zoroark shook its head and scratched weakly at the concrete beneath them, curling up against the brickwork.

"It's okay." Adrien said. "We won't hurt you. We've just seen you around so much we thought we'd introduce ourselves. I'm Adrien. Nice to meet you."

"And I'm Josh. How's it going?"

The zoroark looked from one of them to the other and hesitated. A long, high-pitched whine sounded in its throat.

"Are you okay?" Adrien asked. "Do you have a trainer, or…" He trailed off because the zoroark flinched violently at the word "trainer". It scratched more insistently at the concrete, and the sound of it's claws on the concrete was grating to Adrien's ears.

Something deeper into the alley tipped over, clattering to the ground. The zoroark jumped up and hid behind Adrien. "Woah, it's alright. There's nothing there, see?" He looked into the alley. "Probably an espurr or something." Since the zoroark was touching him, barely, but definitely huddled against his side, Adrien dared reach out to pet it. Its luscious fur felt just as soft as it looked. "It's fine. Are you okay?"

The zoroark shook like a leaf, and after a few more moments of watching the alley intently, it scurried back away from Adrien whimpering all the while. "Hey, there," Joshua said. "No need to be scared. We just want to be friends."

The zoroark looked back to the alley, then back to them, and breathed out a soft whine. It scratched the concrete roughly with one paw, over and over again. Adrien thought if it were stronger it would gouge a line in the ground. "What's wrong?" He asked it.

The zoroark glanced into the alley for the umpteenth time, then growled and looked down at the ground, where it renewed its efforts at scratching into the surface. _Is it… trying to tell us something with that?_

"Adrien, look." Joshua pointed to the white lines that had begun to appear where the zoroark scratched the concrete. "Doesn't that look like an 'H'?"

 _It does._ It was rough and poorly drawn and Adrien wasn't sure if it was because of the frantic author or if the zoroark was just scratching wildly and they were seeing something that wasn't there, but it definitely did look like a jagged letter. _Does this zoroark know how to write?_ "Hey, are you trying to write something?" He asked.

The zoroark paused, looked up at him, let out an incomprehensible sound that Adrien could hardly even process, then nodded.

Adrien looked at Joshua and nodded. He pulled out his phone and brought up the notepad, enlarging the keyboard as much as he could. "Can you just tap the letters?"

The zoroark hesitated, then did as instructed. Adrien turned the phone back to him. Joshua leaned over his shoulder to look. "Help?" Adrien read.

Joshua looked at the zoroark. "Of course, we will! How can we help? What do you need help with?"

Zoroark launched into a series of whines and barks and chirrups and growls that Adrien had no hope of comprehending. Adrien tried to get it to type on the phone again, but it just gently pawed at it instead of carefully poking the letters like it had before. Joshua put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think he knows how to write it. He probably doesn't know how to write that well yet, just letters and simple words."

The zoroark nodded emphatically and anxiously glanced once more into the alley.

"Okay." Adrien said, "so, yes or no questions, then. Are you hungry? Is that what you need help with?"

Zoroark shook his head no.

Joshua followed the zoroark's nervous glancing. "Is something after you? You trying to get away from something?"

Zoroark jumped up and nodded vehemently.

Adrien and Joshua shared a look. "So," Joshua said, "which one of us is going to take him?"

"I will." Adrien said. He turned to the Zoroark. "You can come with me, alright? You'll be safe with me."

Zoroark looked carefully at him for a moment, and then slowly crept closer. Adrien held out a hand to him, and he sniffed at him before nuzzling into it. _Is that a way to tell me you'll trust me?_

"Well, well, well." Adrien jumped right along with Zoroark when a deep, gravelly voice reached him. A man, exactly the sort his father would warn him never to approach – with torn clothes and grimy faces and tattoos covering his arms, each one practically bigger than Adrien's whole body. "Looks like there were some kids looking for you after all. Didn't think the rumors were true. Ah well. Come on back, dog." Zoroark growled savagely and backed behind Adrien. "Ha! Hide behind the kids."

"Who are you? What do you want with Zoroark?" Adrien asked, trying his hardest to stand his ground.

"Better question, kid, is who are you?" The man sneered. "Some rich brat who thinks he can solve the world's problems, eh? Well, kid, I ain't here for you. Get out of here before you get hurt."

Adrien looked to Joshua. "We're not going anywhere." Joshua said. "Not when Zoroark obviously doesn't want to go with you."

The man laughed. "Hear that, dog? These kids want to protect you! Hahaha, really, kids, you should mind your own business." He walked forward. Adrien felt a panic in his chest. _We can't fight this guy._ "The dog does want to come with me, don't you?"

Adrien felt the zoroark press into his legs. It was painful how small he seemed. He stood easily to Adrien's shoulders if he had stood upright, but instead he was curled up so small he barely reached Adrien's thigh. _Not a chance. Not a chance in the world. This guy is obviously hurting him._ "After all." The man said. "You don't want to be responsible for a couple kids getting hurt, do you?"

 _What the heck?_ Adrien felt the zoroark hesitate. The growling stopped. Slowly, the pressure against his legs disappeared, and the zoroark was slinking back towards the man. "That's better."

And Adrien was frozen. What was he supposed to do? What _could_ he do? He'd never been in such danger before. His breath came hard and stuck in his throat, his mind went blank. He saw Zoroark crawling away from him and he knew he should stop it but he just couldn't move.

"Don't you dare, Zoroark!" Joshua called. "Don't let him manipulate you!"

But Zoroark just gave him a glance and kept walking. Joshua took a step forward to do something about it, but the man released a garbodor that shot poison at his feet, pushing him back to Adrien's side.

"You know, I recognize you kids now. You're on those ads all over the city, ain't'cha?" He cackled. "You're lucky I'm feeling generous, punks. I'll let you walk away this time but if I see you again I bet I could get a nice sum from your daddies, huh?" He grabbed Zoroark roughly by the scruff of his neck and started dragging him away. "So stay out of my business!"

Adrien fell to his knees when the man turned the corner. He covered his mouth with a trembling hand. "Adrien!" Joshua's arm around his shoulders comforted him, a little. "Adrien, it's alright. We're both fine."

"He would've…"

Joshua sighed. "I don't know what he would've done."

"Zoroark."

"Yeah. Zoroark went with him to protect us. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Adrien swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "Yeah. We need to save him."

* * *

"How are you so calm?" Adrien asked, watching Joshua tap his foot. They were sitting in Adrien's room, trying to think of an approach. "That guy could have hurt us!"

Joshua grinned. "Oh, I'm not. I'm terrified. But you seemed worse than me, so…"

"Josh." Adrien dove into him to hug him. He ended up knocking Joshua over so they were laying on the sofa, Adrien on top of Joshua, as Adrien buried his head into Joshua's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry." He felt Joshua's hand on his head, ruffling his hair gently. "But if we go after Zoroark, we might see that guy again. Maybe other people, too. Are you going to be okay if we have to battle them?"

"We aren't actually going to fight that guy, will we?"

"No, of course not. Not if there's any avoiding it. We need to find out what's going on, and then tell the police. But first we need to investigate, and if we end up crossing paths… we can't freeze. Got it?"

Adrien nodded. "I know. Okay." He took a deep breath. "I'll be fine. What about you?"

"I'll handle it. As long as we're together, we don't have anything to worry about, right? And Kirlia can teleport us if we need to, right? So, no worries."

"Right. We'll be fine." Adrien lifted himself up and wiped at his face. "Haha, I just didn't expect something like this."

"Me neither, but we can't ignore it. What would your mom have done?"

"She'd have rescued Zoroark."

"Exactly." Joshua reached up and patted Adrien's shoulder. "So, let's get up and start figuring out how to do that."

It was then that Adrien realized just what position he was in, practically straddling his hot best friend, and he scrambled off in such a hurry that the fell on his butt on the floor. Joshua laughed. "You alright?" Adrien only looked through his fingers, but he swore that Joshua's cheeks were just a little darker than normal. That only made him blush even more. _I'm such an idiot._

"Fine." He mumbled.

"Come on." Joshua chuckled. "Where do we start?"

 _Where_ do _we start? I don't have a clue._ "I guess…" He said. "We know, generally, where they are, right? We always saw Zoroark near Estival Avenue. So, it'd make sense if everything was happening near there."

"But if Zoroark was trying to escape, he'd want to get as far away as possible. We saw him a lot of times, but we have no way of knowing if that was all one escape or if it was multiple attempts."

"Could we try to track him? Go back to where he took Zoroark and find a trail?"

"It's worth a shot, at least. And it's somewhere to start. When do you want to go?"

Adrien looked out the window, grimacing when he saw the sun was already going down. "If we wait too long, any trace will be gone."

"But we're not allowed out after dark." Joshua said, filling in the unspoken part of Adrien's statement.

They shared a look. "Do you think we could get away with it?"

Joshua shrugged. "Better to ask forgiveness than permission, right?"

"My dad would kill me for even saying that."

"You mom would've agreed, though."

Adrien smiled. "Yeah. Let's go."

Joshua grinned, and Kirlia teleported them both from Adrien's room straight to Estival Avenue. They walked a little to find the alley near Magenta Plaza that the man had taken Zoroark, and Adrien grasped Plagg's pokéball in one hand and Joshua's hand in the other.

"Look," Joshua said, pointing with his free hand to the concrete. "The scratches. And Garbodor's poison. You think Plagg could sniff them out?"

"I'm not sure. Plagg?" He let Plagg out of the ball and directed him to the landmarks in question. The absol took one look at the poison and scrunched up his nose and stuck his tongue out. "I know, Plagg, but please. We need to find it."

Plagg huffed but did go to sniff at the poison and the scratches and then he led the way into the alley. _Teleport won't work on Plagg, so if we need to get out quick I need to recall him before we leave. Better stay ready._ He kept Plagg's pokéball in his hand, ready for any reason.

They followed Plagg for a few minutes to a decrepit, boarded up building. Plagg took one last sniff, made a disgusted face, and went straight back into the pokéball all on his own. "Is this it?" Joshua asked, looking up at the bricks.

"I guess." Adrien said.

"Kirlia, can you get us up there?" He pointed to the roof of a nearby building.

Adrien held Joshua's hand tighter as they were teleported, and he had to repeat over and over to himself not to look down, but across to the building they were really interested in.

"Check it out, Adrien." Josh said. "That board is falling off. We might be able to get inside."

"Can't Kirlia teleport us in?"

"Not while we don't know what the layout is. Unless we know for sure that there's open room there, and no furniture or anything, and, you know, a floor, we shouldn't use that."

"Oh. That makes sense."

"You want to go first, or should I?"

"I'll go."

Joshua nodded, and Adrien readied himself at the edge of the roof. _It's not far. I can make the jump, right?_ "Kirlia will help you across." Joshua said softly. "Don't worry. You won't fall."

 _Right. Here goes._ Adrien set his eyes on the windowsill across from him and jumped. He felt weightless, like gravity had turned off, and he knew that Kirlia's Psychic was assisting his jump. He hit the wall and grabbed the windowsill and hauled himself up and looked inside. It was a dark room, with chairs and desks dusty and in disrepair. Everything was a curious shade of grey and it made Adrien uneasy. He felt like he was walking onto the set of a horror movie.

With a final heave, he toppled into the building. Once he had stood and turned around, Joshua jumped. Like him, Kirlia used his Psychic to assist, and Adrien took Joshua's hand and pulled him in. From there, it was a simple matter of Kirlia teleporting to where he could see. Right in Joshua's arms.

"What is this place?" Joshua asked, looking around. His voice was quiet and floated gentle as the dust that swirled around them.

"No idea. Looks like some abandoned office building." He approached the door and, with Joshua's affirmation, opened it. It creaked ominously, and loudly, making them both flinch.

"Let's keep going."

They searched the floor they were on, but it was just an abandoned building. Adrien was a little paranoid that they'd run into ghosts, but nothing indicated that Zoroark or the man who took him was there. So, they went to the next floor down, and faced the same result. Only once they got to the second floor did they come across any evidence that anyone had been there. One of the desks was clean and had a bunch of papers on it. They didn't mean anything to Adrien, but Joshua looked at them with a frown.

"What are these?" He asked. "They look like… bets, maybe? Like something from a rhyhorn race."

"They could be from whoever last used this place." Adrien said.

"Maybe." Joshua hummed and placed them back on the desk.

They headed a floor down, and it was painfully evident that people came and went from the building. While dark, dank, and dirty, everything had been dusted and it was more… _welcoming isn't the right word. But… populated? In working hours, I guess. We're probably lucky nothing is going on right now, actually._

A sharp, faint bark caught Adrien's attention, and when he heard the muffled "quiet, you stupid mutt!" he knew that the man in the alley was definitely there. He shared a look with Joshua. "Zoroark." He whispered.

Joshua nodded and pointed down. _The basement._ Joshua took his hand and led him to the stairs. "Ready?"

Adrien took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

They crept down the stairs to the basement and found that the door at the bottom was missing. The poked their heads around the doorframe instead, to see what they were up against. The floor had been opened out, all furniture present was thrown against the walls or lining the large pit dug into the center of the room. In one corner were a few desks stuck together with a long tablecloth over them and stools lining one side. _Some kind of makeshift bar?_ In another corner were a few tables and chairs around them.

One wall, the far one, had a door, behind which Adrien could now hear a whole menagerie of cries. More than just Zoroark, there were all kinds of pokémon back there. He wasn't sure how many or what kinds, but that much was clear.

Joshua grabbed his hand and pulled him to the bar, lifting the tablecloth and ducking under it. Adrien followed. "Now what?" He hissed. "That guy is still there."

"We have to just wait." Zoroark's pained whine punctuated Joshua's words. They both flinched. "Kirlia can't teleport Zoroark, and even if he could, we can't let that guy see us." Another growl, and a sharp yelp. "Else he'd clear out and the cops wouldn't get him."

"Speaking of." Adrien said. "I can't just do nothing." He pulled out his phone. "Let's call them. We know for sure what's happening and where now, so…" _A pit fighting ring. I can't believe this._

"Good idea. But be quiet. I'll keep watch."

Adrien typed in the emergency number and held his phone to his ear. Zoroark's cries each felt like a slap to the face. He felt useless, but he knew there wasn't anything he could do. "Hello, what is your emergency?" The stoic voice said over the phone.

"Hi, I'm calling because I think we found a fighting ring."

"A fighting ring?"

"It's in the basement of an abandoned office building on the corner of South Boulevard and Estival Avenue." He flinched at another cry. "Please, hurry. I can hear the pokemon."

"I'm dispatching an officer now. Are you in danger?"

"Not yet." Adrien said honestly. "We're hiding, the guy hasn't seen us, so I think we're safe. But that zoroark is…"

"Is there a fight going on right now?"

"No. It's just us and one guy here. We can't see him but he's hurting that zoroark somehow."

"Okay. Stay hidden, and do not interfere no matter what, understand? I know it's hard to listen to that, but you have to keep yourself safe first. An officer will be there in ten minutes."

"Thank you."

"Of course. Would you like me to stay on the line with you?"

"No. That's not necessary. We'll stay hidden. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Bye." He hung up and looked to Joshua. "A cop is on their way."

"Good. It shouldn't take lo- shh!"

The door opened. "Now, dog." The man sneered. "Don't cry. You saved some kids today! You should be proud." He cackled and locked the door, turning to cross the room.

Adrien grabbed Joshua's arm. Joshua grabbed his arm right back and shook his head. _But if he leaves, he might get away. The officer won't get here for a while, he'll be long gone by then._

 _"Don't."_ Joshua's eyes said. _"We can catch him later. Right now, our priority is Zoroark and the other pokémon."_

 _You're right. But I just can't let him escape._

"Hey! Dickhead!" Adrien jumped out from under the table and blocked off the exit.

"What the hell?"

Adrien called out Plagg and took a steadying breath. _Zoroark. I couldn't do anything when he took you, but I'm not going to let him get away with it._ "I'm not letting you go." Adrien said. His voice shook, but his gaze did not. "The police are already on their way, and you're not walking out of here without handcuffs on you."

The man snorted. "Aw, the rich baby wants to play hero! I'll walk out of here alright. With a hostage if I have to." He let Garbodor out of its pokéball. "Go on, Garbodor, Gunk Shot!"

Plagg deftly sidestepped the attack without needing an order, and he jumped in, feinting to break the garbodor's guard before striking it hard with his horn. Adrien looked back to the table, where he saw Joshua peeking at the battle. _Better he stays there. Stays safe. This guy really would hold me hostage. I'd rather that not be an option with Josh._ The garbodor reared back. "Plagg, behind it!"

Just before the garbodor released its Acid Spray, Plagg danced around to it's rear, out of the cone of danger. Adrien grit his teeth and held an arm up to protect his face, but nothing ended up hitting him. He opened his eyes to look and saw the last of the acid droplets slide off of Kirlia's Protect.

"You alright?" Joshua asked.

"Yeah. Thanks."

Garbodor yelled when Plagg delivered a Night Slash to its back. It turned to swipe at him and caught Plagg, throwing him back to the wall behind Adrien.

The man laughed. "Not bad, kid! I might just take that absol off your hands. It's got grit."

"That's not happening." Adrien replied. "Plagg!"

Plagg came up to his side, in reach of a quick pet. Then he jumped back in, engaging the garbodor in melee.

While the garbodor was no doubt much stronger than Plagg, it was also slower and more clumsy. Plagg hopped on sure paws and the garbodor had no more luck hitting him than it would have had hitting smoke. Adrien was a little in awe of it, if he were honest. He'd never had much cause to battle before, and though he knew Plagg wasn't weak from the few casual battles he had participated in, this was an entirely new side of the pokémon he'd never seen. It was beautiful, like a dance. Adrien smiled. _Any minute, now._

The pokémon's duet came to a swift end in only a minute, when a man dressed in the uniform of the Lumiose City Police Department entered, holding his weapon at the ready. "Police!" He yelled. "Everyone, hands in the air!"

Adrien and Joshua immediately complied, though they were lucky that the cop seemed to peg the real threat quickly and pointed the gun at their opponent after only a brief pause on Joshua.

The man scowled but raised his hands. The officer glanced down at Adrien and Joshua. "Are you two the ones that called this in?"

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry I didn't stay hidden, but I didn't want him to get away before you got here." Adrien said. He bit his lip and looked at the ground.

He felt a hand on his head and looked up at the cop's smile. "It's alright. I'm just glad you aren't hurt." Then he approached the man and slapped cuffs around his wrists and holstered his gun and found Garbodor's pokéball and returned it. "You two kids are alright?"

"Yes, sir, but there are pokémon in that room." He pointed to it.

The officer nodded. "Right. Stay here." Adrien looked at Joshua and they did as they were asked. Once the officer had looked into the room and radioed the station, he returned to them.

"What's going to happen to them?" Adrien asked.

"We'll take 'em in. See if any of them have trainers. If not, they'll go to a recovery center."

"Can… can I… catch one? The zoroark. He asked us for help. I don't want to just leave him now."

The cop sighed. "Not now, son. After everything's processed, you could come by and ask to take custody of him, if that's what you want."

"Oh. Okay."

"So that's what you kids were doing here, then?"

Joshua cleared his throat. "Yes, officer. We saw that man take Zoroark. I assume Zoroark escaped and found us, but that guy caught him again. We were looking for Zoroark when we found this place. We called you as soon as we realized what was happening."

The officer nodded. "I see. Well, good on you for calling us. Next time, just do it from the beginning, alright? Don't put yourselves in danger like this."

"Yes sir."

"Now, please come with me. I just need your statements, and I can give you boys a ride home afterwards, alright?"

Adrien smiled in relief. "Yes sir. Thank you. But, may I please see Zoroark first?"

The cop worried his lip, but after a moment he inclined his head. "Alright. But be careful. I'm going to take this one up to the car, and I'll be back for you two."

"Okay. Thank you."

The officer left with the man and Adrien took Joshua's hand and they approached the back room together.

Inside, a row of cages and bloodied, scarred pokemon lined the wall. Adrien hesitated, flinching at the sight, but he felt Joshua squeeze his hand and he took another step, then another, and he finally found Zoroark's cage.

Zoroark looked as immaculate as when they had first seen him, but Adrien could see the blood on the floor and on the walls of his cell and knew that it was just an imperfect illusion. "Hey." He knelt down in front of the cage. Zoroark perked up and scratched at the bars. "We caught him." Adrien said with a grin. "He's in custody right now. The police have him."

"I'm sorry, buddy." Joshua said. "We can't let you out right now, but some people will be by soon to get all of you."

"And as soon as we can, we're going to find you, okay?" Adrien added, when he saw the zoroark pull back. "And then we'll take care of you. I told you I'd keep you safe, right?" He reached into the bars, holding his hand there for the zoroark. "Well you're going to need to trust me, but I will make good on my promise. Some people are going to take you to the hospital, and they'll give you a checkup, and then once we can, we'll be there. And if you want, you can live with me, then. Okay?" He smiled. The zoroark leaned forward a little and nuzzled into his hand. "So just trust me for a little while. We'll see each other again in no time. Got it?"

"Kids, come on." The cop appeared in the doorway, calling them out. Adrien looked back to see Zoroark nod.

"Coming!" He stood and shared a grin with Joshua before following the cop out of the room.

* * *

"You have snuck out after curfew."

"Yes, but-"

"Engaged in battle with a man you knew to be a criminal."

"It's not as simple as-"

"And now you want to adopt one of the pokémon that was being abused?"

Adrien winced under his father's cold glare.

That glare soon gave way as Gabriel rubbed his face with a hand in exasperation. "You really are the spitting image of your mother." He sighed. "You know there must be punishment for this. You have directly disobeyed me and endangered yourself and your friend."

"Actually, Monsieur Agreste," Joshua said, "I'm just as if not more guilty. He didn't endanger me. I would've done it anyway."

"Even still."

"I understand." Adrien said. "And I'll accept the consequences. But please let me take in Zoroark."

Another sigh. "I don't imagine I could stop you." Adrien dared perk up a little. "You are grounded. You are not to leave our home unless I have given express permission." He paused. "Nathalie, if you could handle the schedule with when Adrien might go to retrieve this zoroark. Adrien, when you do, you will be in Nathalie's sight at all times. Understand? You will go, and you will come straight home."

"I understand. Thanks, Dad."

Joshua raised his hand. "If he's grounded, can I still come visit?"

Gabriel scowled. "Only because you will not long be here regardless. I would not deprive you two of your last month together."

"Thanks, Monsieur Agreste!"

"That's only my permission, though. Your own father will no doubt have his own punishment for you when you get home."

"Yeah, of course."

"I trust you two will not mistake my sympathy for your limited time together for lenience. Any other situation and you would be restricted without another thought."

"I know." Adrien said. "Thank you, Dad."

"Yes, well. Joshua, we better get you home. Adrien, to your room."

Adrien did as he was told. He was a paragon of good behavior, in fact, since he did feel bad about breaking the rules. Still, he couldn't bring himself to regret anything. He did what he felt was right, and the warm glow in his chest was worth any punishment his father would throw his way. One criminal was off the streets, one organization brought down, most likely displacing many more criminals, and many pokémon, including Zoroark, saved. That was worth any punishment his father would throw at him.

Still, he was beyond thrilled he'd still be able to see Joshua.

They went together to pick up Zoroark from the rehab center, but they didn't have much chance to actually talk to the pokémon. He was in a pokéball when they got there, for the sake of space, they said. Regardless, Adrien signed the sheet saying he was taking custody of Zoroark and paid the adoption fee and that was that. He got a sheet of warnings about the dangers of adopting an abused pokémon, and one with specific instructions for Zoroark's care – mostly about his wounds – and they handed him the pokéball.

When they got home, Adrien raced to his room, Joshua on his tail, and they both jumped onto the sofa and Adrien released Zoroark.

Zoroark blinked drearily for a moment, then caught sight of Adrien and Joshua and perked up, beaming for the first time since they'd met him. "I told you we'd be back together in no time." Adrien said. "How do you feel?"

Zoroark used his illusions to take Josh's image, like when they had first met, and he gave him a thumbs-up.

Joshua laughed. "You know, that really is so cool."

"I was thinking." Adrien said. "Where did you learn to write? I've never met a pokémon who could write before."

Zoroark hummed and pointed to his eyes.

"You just watched? And taught yourself?"

A nod and a bark.

Joshua chucked breathily. "That's amazing. We should help! Right, Adrien? He already knows his letters, we should teach him how to really write. And maybe with that illusion of me we could even talk through sign language. What do you think, Zoroark?"

Another happy yip and a nod. The Zoroark-Joshua grinned and nodded emphatically.

Adrien laughed. "Alright! I'm grounded anyway, we may as well since we're stuck in here, right?"

"And you nickname your pokémon, right Adrien? You want a nickname, Zoroark? May as well do it now, right? New chapter in your life and all that."

Zoroark blinked, dropped the illusion of Joshua (though Adrien noticed that he was still using his illusion to cover up his scars), and then, after a moment of stupor, yipped and nuzzled into Joshua and grinned in that particular way zoroark can. Adrien couldn't help but grin right along.

"What name would fit you, though?" Adrien asked. "Anything in particular?"

Zoroark pondered that for a moment and put up another illusion, of a random person this time.

Joshua chuckled. "Does that guy have a name, or are you just trying to tell us you want a human name?"

The illusory Zoroark held up two fingers.

"Right." Adrien said.

"Well," Joshua said. "By convention, Adrien's pokemon have names that are five letters long and have a double consonant. Don't ask me how he came up with that one, but you think something that'd fit that would work?" Zoroark just tilted his head, his expression a little helpless. "Pfft, sorry. You probably don't know what a consonant is exactly, do you? Hmm, let me try to think of an example… Like… Rocco. Five letters, double c. C is a consonant, as are most letters. Really just the vowels aren't."

Zoroark bounced a little and nodded, pointing at Joshua, who laughed. "What? You like that name? Rocco?" Zoroark nodded. "Huh. Well, Rocco it is, then." He looked at Adrien. "You know, I gave you trouble for that naming scheme, but I guess it isn't as hard as I thought."

Adrien laughed. "Try non-human names, then tell me that."

"Are you trying to make it worse for yourself?"

"Just trying to get the respect I deserve for coming up with Plagg and Tikki. Not super easy."

"Dork."

Adrien shook his head. "Well, Rocco, this is your new home. This is my room, so you have free reign here, basically. Don't step on Plagg's tail and there shouldn't be a problem. The rest of the house is a bit different, since my dad is kind of strict, but feel free to make yourself at home, okay?"

Rocco looked around and made a beeline for Adrien's extensive library. He barked and pulled one of the books down. He looked at it, tilted his head for a moment, furrowing his brow, then held it up for Adrien. _Is that… Oh, yes. Rocco has good taste._

"Oh, no." Joshua said.

"Oh, yes." Adrien said. "Yes, we are absolutely reading that!"

"No." Joshua said. "We cannot teach Rocco words by reading Shakespeare. Normal human people who grow up with our language can't understand that stuff."

"You uncultured swine." Adrien said. "That is exactly why this is a brilliant idea. Come on, Rocco! We'll get started right now!"

"I can't believe this."

Adrien took the book and smirked, sending Joshua a wink as he said, "Come on, Josh. Stop making so much ado about nothing!"

"I'm disowning you."

"Come on, do it with me! You're Leonato!"

Joshua sighed and shook his head. "You really are something else, you know that?"

"Thank you. Rocco, I want you to just watch this scene for now, alright? Once you see it and know what's going on, we'll go through it word by word and make sure you understand what it's saying, alright? Josh." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Come on."

"Alright. Fine."

"Yes! Here. I already have the messenger's part memorized. You can read off the text. And, uh… I should have it somewhere…" Adrien went to his desk to search for his other copy of the play. "Got it! Rocco, again, I want you to focus on just watching it at first, but here's a copy for you to follow along. Ready, Josh? You start."

Joshua laughed and shook his head. "As I'll ever be." He cleared his throat. "I learn in this letter that Don Pedro of Arragon comes this night to Messina."

 _I have been waiting my entire life for you to say those words._ Adrien couldn't hold back his ecstatic giggle before he continued the scene. When he saw that Rocco was on the edge of his seat, listening intently and giggling along with them, Adrien knew he made the right decision. The newest addition to his team was a beautiful one who fit in just right. _I'm really looking forward to all the time we'll get to spend together, Rocco._


End file.
